Lighter for orchard heaters



l Nov. z, 1943. W A, LEA ET AL 2,333,137

LIGHTER FOR ORCHARD HEATERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filled Nov. 26, '1957 NOV. 2, 1943. W` A, LEA ET AL 2,333,187

LIGHTER FOR ORCHARD HEATERS Original Filed Nov. 26, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I 32 ai 55 L., a 58 57 WAH-R /q- Len zo 4a dfn/ez. l/uvcE/vr E'HRHARDT 4 INVENToRs.

n| I 53 ..54 57 rro/e/vfy.

Patented Nov. 2, 1943 Waker A. Les, Les Angeles, and Earl vincent' Ehrhardt, Altadena, Calif.

original appneatien November 2s, 1937, serial No. 176,614. Divided and this application May 4, 1942, Serial No. 441,746

1 Claim. 15S-42.1)

This application is a divisionalapplicationof what has been shown, claimed and allowed in a former applicationof ours for an Orchard heater,

Vfiled November 26, 1937, Serial No. 176,614, now

Reference will be had to the accompanying drawings in which Y Fig. 1 is a View in side elevation of the heater with a part of the flue taken away.

Patent No. 2,286,366, issued June 16, 1942. l ,5 Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of two associated This invention, as shown and claimed herein, fuel supply tanks and tank: heaters. relates to lighters for the burners of orchard Fig. 3 is a schematic plan view of an orchard heaters, whichy burners are adapted to burn showing one possible arrangement of heaters gaseous or liquid fuels for heating the air in large therein. open areas, principally and primarily for or- 10 Fig. 4is an enlargedelevational view of the chards where a plurality of burner Vequipped heater shown in Fig. 1, with the pilot hood shown heaters are used to warm the outside air indein section. fense from frost. Our lighters may be used also Fig. 5 iS a Side elevational View in section of with burners in large areas to be heated in apthe burner end of the heater taken alongr the line proximately `the same manner as in an orchard ,l5 5-5 of Fig. 4. the DilOi' assembly being Shown area. in side elevation in front of the Ysection plane. The service required for this type of heating Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view of the pilot requires a great many heaters as a general inassembly taken along the line 6 6 of Fig. 5. stallation.4 The time `element for lighting these The Orchard heater ShOWrl in the drawings in heaters is sometimes such that a single person Whieh 0111 lighter iS assembled and Which is` demust start in Operation a, good many heaters in SCI'ibed herein as a. lighter fOI Ithe blllnel 0f a a relatively Short space of time on occasion 0f heater, is provided with aperforated, horizontally sudden changes in atmospheric temperatures. disposed heater lille ll 0f any Suitable Construc- When liquid or gaseous'fuels are.used for the tien and shape. Thus flue Il is suppelied al? its burners it is desirable to provide central storage g5 Outer end by .any Suitable Standard I6 above the volume supply and this connected by suitable glOllnd Il. z piping to separateburners, yetsingley tanks may At the front end Of the flue there is an be used at each heater if desired, end Wall 22 Secured to the body Of the ue I ill The burnersfor which our lighters are norany Suitable nlannelmally to be used will Vburn liquid engageons u Into this endv wall 22 of the flue I| 4 there is fuel Supplied by any Suitable piping means- "U secured by screws |8 a burner casting i9 having Anl object of the invention is to provide a a hollcwmixing cylinder 25 and a goose neck special igniting means which wili automatically projection 26 entering rearwardly from the unlight the burner when a valve is opened, allowing der Side 0f Cylinder 25- The Whle 0f Which a fuel supply to enter the burner. mechanism is supported upon a vertical stand- A further object of the invention is to, provide ard 20 mOunted 0n a pedestal Oi' baSe 2| Testing a lighting means for the fuel in the burner which on the ground I1. will `automatically light a pilot, flame from a A cylindrical hood 98 having a ring of louver fuel supply from a special conductor and at the openings 99 and` a top portion |00, 'covers the same time open up a conductor to the `main fuel burner and lighter mechanisms from the outside line conductor for the regular` supply for the weather contact. main fuel burner. K, The fuel for the burner comesto the heater Janother object of the invention is to provide by means of a pipe 52, see Fig. 1, from any suitan automatic lighter for a pilot light having a able supply tanks |0| and |02, see Fig. 2, in which special fuel supply, for lighting and a fuel supply is shown a liquid fuel I |2 of any suitable quality. for the burner and automatic means for` igniting 40 Those tanks |0| and |02 are duplicates for the the pilot burner and for shutting off the supply purpose that when one becomes empty the other of fuel to the pilot burner as and when the tank will be used for fuel supply while a rell fuelburner is supplied from the general supply takes place in the other tank. vof fuel. A pressure of air or gas is carried in the tanks `Our invention is incorporated with an orchard for the purpose of furnishing a more or less conheater to such an extentthat we will describe the stant pressure of fuel in the supply pipe 52 of heater in general terms and specifically as to the sub-stations or single heaters. mechanisms in which our lighter is associated The pipe 52, or duplicates thereof in other with the orchard heater for a better understandheaters, are supplied with fuel from the storage ing of the operation of our lighter. 55 tanks IUI and |02 by pipes`|01 and |08, see Fig. 2.

Fig. 3 indicates a plan of an orchard arrangement of the trees and the locations of the heaters Il9 and IIE) the fuel for which is supplied by pipes Il'I and I8.

The arrangements of the piping at the discharge locations from the tanks are shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, but are not described herein in detail as they are not necessarily a part of this inventionl save only as to indicate the fuel supply conditions under which our invention operates. mechanisms of the burner and the lighter are connected to be supported by and from the standard 20 having its lower end 3I fixed into the base or pedestal 2I. This standard 25 maybe a solid bar or a tube in which the top end must be covered.

At the upper end of the standard 2@ there is mounted a T pipe fitting 32 and in the top of this fitting 32 there is a pipe section 53.

The topof the pipe'33 vis screwed into a boss 34 of the burner casting I9 whereby the burner and the front end of the flue II are supported from the pedestal base 2I.

`Intothe side open-ing S of the T fitting 32 there is mounted an elbow-fitting 55, seeFigs. and 6. in which there is screwed a horizontal nipple 56. The right end of this nipple 55 is enlarged and this end is screwed into the side wall ofv a band 45. This band 45 is located about midway of and embraces acylinder 44. This nipple 56 is terminated into a small nose projectionA at its yrightfend which enters intov the left Wall .of the cylinder ,4.4.r A passageway 57 of the nipple 56 enters into ythe cylinder 44- at the port location 62, see Fig. 6.

Thus there is a passagewayy from the interior of cylinder 44 at approximately its midway length which passes from the cylinder through the nipple 58,l the'iltting 455 and the .pipe 53, and this is the passageway through which the fuel supply for the burner is conducted to a burner tip or nozzle39.

The entire fuel supply for the heater of this un-itxcomes through the pipe 52Yinto` a T tting 50 which is screwed into the base plug 48 in the lower end of the cylinder 44 and through the port opening 49 in the plug 48. v

The T fitting 50 is connected to the pipe 52 by a compression joint 9G which holdsthe end of the pipe 52 in communication with an opening 5I of the T shaped tting 56 in which opening 5I there is the valve seat 'adapted to be opened and closed by a needle valve stem 54 by means of which a passageway is opened or closed for fuel between the pipe 52, the passageway 5ia entering into the opening port 49A of the plug 48 in the bottom of the `cylinder into which all the fuel which enters into the burner must enter and pass.

fuel comes through the pipe `lill-from the upper l section 58h of the inside 580i the cylinder 44, there will be discharged outwardly out ofthe cup 'I0 a combustiblematerial which when ignited will become an igniting pilot flame for the yfuel The front of the heater and all the' discharged by the aforementioned nozzle 3S of the burner.

In the cylinder 44 there is a piston block 59 on the top of which is mounted a synthetic rubber or any suitable valve disk 61 fixed to the upper face of the said piston block 59. On the cylinder head 4l there is a valve seat 58 on an angular projection 69 of the cylinder head 4l.

The piston 59 on its left side wall is provided with a small groove 55a, see Fig. 6, the purpose of which is to allow a seepage of fuel to pass by the piston 59 as and when the piston is lifted by the entrance of fuel coming into the cylinder 44 through the passageway port 49 through the plug 43 as and when the pressure of fuel supply is 'opened up to enter the cylinder 44 by the opening of the valve stem 54.

The fuel supply is always under a pressure sufficient to lift the piston 59 upwardly in the cylinder 44 and carry the said piston 59 up to contact withthe valve seat 68 of the cylinder head 47. This leakage through groove 55a in the piston 59 allows sufcient fuel to pass above the piston 59 -as the piston rises under the pressure of the entering fuel to furnish a supply for the fuel to start and keep burning the pilot fiame issuing from the cup 'l0 to become a pilot light as and when ignited to keep this pilot light burning until the piston 59 Amoves the valve disk 67 to contact the valvev seat 68 of the cylinder head 4l, whereupon the fuel supply for the pilot light is shut off. Meantime as the piston 59 passes the opening port 62 of the passageway 5l' in the nipple 55, then vthere is opened a direct passageway for fuel to pass through from the interior of the cylinder 44 to the inside of the pipe 33 whereby fuel then may enter and pass directly to the burner nozzle 39.

A piston rod 60 which is connected at 50a to the piston 59 passes through a packing 6I in the top cylinder head 4l and is connected to an arm 87 through the medium of which the ignition mechanism for the pilot flame in the cup 1D is actuated to light the pilot burner as and during the time the piston 59 passes upwardly to cause valve disk 6l to contact the valve seat 68 of the cylinder head 41. The ignition mechanisms `45, hereinafter described, thus actuated by the movement of the piston 59 will have started and haverkept burning the. pilot flame as and when fuel will pass through the pipe 33 sumciently and will issue from the nozzle 39 to be ignited by the f pilotlfiame before the fuel supply for said llame has been shut oly by the Valve disk 6'! and seat 68 above described.

The fuel as it rises up inside the pipe 33 coming through the cylinder 44 under pressure from the supply tanks IGI and ISE, as previously described, enters the opening 35 in boss 34 of casting I and enters to a chamber 45 into a pipe heater 4I closed by a cap 42.

This heater pipe 4I is secured in horizontal position by being fastened into casting I9 and eX- tends into the heated space in the heater flue I I. An opened endedwpipe 43 is located inside pipe 4I having its right end open to the space 45 in pipe 4I. The other or left end of pipe 43 is screwed into the casting I9, and at this end the pipe 43 opens to a chamber 36 in the goose neck projection 26 of casting I9. The left end of projection 25A rises into a leg 37 having a horizontal portion gg into which there is screwed the burner nozzle 'I5 passes around the vertcalcenter of nozzle V39 in which center there is entered the ignition mechanism 45. The top of this ignition mechanism 45 is a part of Fig. 6.

Thus the chamber 36 extends around this opening in which the ignition of the fuel takes place.

The fuel heated by the heater pipe 4| which is heated by the heat of the interior of iiue Il escapes out of the nozzle 39 and siphons in the outside air around the nozzle and enters into the horizontally disposed cylinder hood 21 fixed at 28 into the casting I9. From this hood 21 the burning fuel passes into a horizontal mixing chamber 25 the nozzle of which is indicated by 30.

The ignition of the fuel from the pilot cup 18 together with the fuel from the nozzle 39 takes place by the lighting means broadly indicated by 45. This lighting means will now be described.

The frame for the ignition mechanism 45 is a channel shaped upright 12 which is mounted in position by means of a nut 13 threaded upon the nipple 56, by which it is drawn into a fixed position against the band 46.

A pin 14 is revolvably mounted between flanges 15 and 15 of the upright 12. These anges extend upwardly a short distance above the upper end of channel web 15. The pin 14 projects beyond the flange 15 and has iixedly mounted upon the projecting portion a steel disk 11, the rim of which is serrated and frictionally contacts a piece of flint 18. This flint is held resiliently against the rim of the disk 11 by means of a spring (not shown) within a housing 19 mounted on the outer face of the channel flange 15.

The peripheral rim of the disk 11 and the flint 1.8 are so constructed and their contact relationship is of such a character that when the disk 11 is given a rapid movement of rotation through a small arc, sparks are generated suflicient to ignite the jet of fuel gas or liquid fuel issuing from the adjacent pilot cup 19. This rapid rotational movement is imparted to the disk 11 by means of mechanism described as follows.

An impulse wheel 80 is losely mounted upon the pin 14 between the channel ilanges 15 and 15. The pin 14 is formed With an axial projection 8l extending toward the channel flange 15', having jaws 82 which enga-ge in mating relationship to jaws 83 formed on a disk 84 which is keyed or otherwise iixedly secured to the pin 14. The impulse wheel 80 is resiliently held axially against the disk 84 by means of spiral spring 85 interposed between the flange 15 and impulse Wheel 88. The impulse wheel 80 is provided with an integral dog 86 which is resiliently held in a vertically dependent position against the upper end of an arm 81 by means of a spring 88 secured at its upper end to the dog 86 and at its lower end to the ange 15. The arm 81 is channel shaped in cross section and is arranged with its flanges 89 extending toward the upright 12. A block 9| is rigidly secured between the flanges 89 and the arm 81 and is formed with an upwardly extending lip 92 which mates with a notch 93 formed on the lower end of dog 88. The arm 81 is hin-ged at its lower end to the upper end of the piston rod 60 and at its upper end its web 84 engages in vertically slidable contacting relationship the outer face of the dog 86, and is resiliently held in such relationship by means of a spring 95 secured at its lower end to, the outer face of the web 16 of the channel standard 12, and at its upper end to a cross arm 96 which is integrally formed upon and projects from the arm 81 near its lower end, and which extends through, and is free to move vertically in a slot 91 formed in the standard web 16.

The igniter mechanism is so constructed and arranged that when the piston 59 in the cylinder 44 is at its lowermost position, the block 9i and the dog are slightly separated, and the upper end of the web 94 rests upon the back of the dog. As the piston moves upwardly, the block 9| engages the dog 86 and rotates the wheel 8D, as shown in dotted lines of Fig. 6, the

dog 86 disengages the lip 92 and the impulse wheel 89 is given a sudden rotation movement by the spring 88. The jaws 82 which latch idly by jaws 83 during ythe upper movement of the dog 86, engage these jaws 83 on the downward impulse, and the steel disk 11 rubs against the flint 18 and generates igniting sparks.

An electrical make and break sparking mech- :anism for ignition purposes may be substituted for the int sparks using the impulse wheel 88 as a make and break electrical connection.

A cylindrical hood 98 formed with a ring of louver openings 99 and supported loosely on the elbow 55 serves to enclose all parts of the pilot assembly 45, protecting it from rain when the heater is used in exposed locations and shielding the pilot flame from Wind. An upper horizontal portion |00 of the hood 98 serves to direct the the pilot flame toward the fuel J'et of the main burner and insures a quick positive ignition thereof.

We have followed in this application the structures described and shown, but not claimed in the application first above mentioned.

What We claim is:

In a heater: a fluid fuel burner; a pilot burner; a fuel supply conductor; a cylinder having at one end a fuel intake port communicating with said supply conductor, at a midway point a, fuel outlet port communicating with said fuel burner, and at its other end a fuel outlet port communieating with said pilot burner; a reciprocating piston in said cylinder adapted to afford fluid passage longitudinally thereof at all positions and adapted in its movement to successively open said fuel outlet port to said fuel burner, and Close said fuel outlet port to said pilot burner,

WALTER A. LEA. EARL VINCENT EHRHARDT. 

